Can We Talk About The Forgotten Hunk Stephen Boyd?

Looks like he had a little fun with Chuck Heston on the "Ben Hur" set.

How does someone who looks like the picture of health die so young and of a disease usually associated with old fat guys?

R2 My guess is it was something genetic. Kind Jim Fixx, the guy who wrote the book about running. Dropped dead of a heart attack at age 52. His family had a history of heart trouble.

Here is wearing Spandex with Raquel in "Fantastic Voyage." I can see why she wanted to get busy with him.

I recall reading an interview that Gore Vidal did talking about when he worked on the Ben-Hur script in Rome. There was always this unspoken undercurrent of sexual attraction between Messala and Ben-Hur, and Vidal decided to have a little fun with it and wrote all these script instructions where Messala was supposed to look longingly at Ben-Hur. Stephen Boyd was into it and it made Heston EXTREMELY uncomfortable LMAO

OP is a racist, right-wing bigot.

Let's not talk about Stephen Boyd.

R5 I see the sexual tension between Boyd and Heston.

Fantastic Voyage is really a fun movie.

He played Frankie Fane in the movie "The Oscar". I read the book as a kid (especially the parts about how hung the character was) and was happy with the casting when I finally saw the movie.

He sure was purdy.

....

Handsome. And the accent helped as well.

r5, you're leaving out the most important part, Heston was only uncomfortable after the fact, because he was too dumb to read between the lines while they were filmin itg. He would've objected otherwise, he was the star and wouldn't have put up with it. Gore and Stephen knew they could slip it by dumbo and it worked.

R9 Easily one of the worst movies of all time. And the "acting" of Tony Bennett was ridiculously bad.

He was almost artificial in how handsome he was, especially with that chin cleft on top of everything else.

I'm sorry he had so much trouble getting work in the last 10-15 years of his life. He was so handsome, but it was the wrong look for the new Hollywood after "Bonnie and Clyde." He was a good actor, and had tons of sex appeal.

Why is there such a critical bias against musicians acting?

Oh Livius... Livius..Livius Livius Livius Livius!

I tried to fuck him too, yeah he was gay. No straight man can resist me,baby.

Stephen Boyd died of AIDS you know. Of course they didn't call it that back then, but that is what it was.

Did Billy Millar get picked up by Sir Michael Redgrave?

"There are not many people who can go from being a busker to a Hollywood film idol, but then not everyone was Stephen Boyd.

"Not even Billy Millar, the actor from Glengormley, County Antrim, who adopted that stage name after a chance encounter with Sir Michael Redgrave in a London cinema which helped propel him to stardom.

"As a new BBC documentary explains, the Northern Ireland man, famed for his role in the 1950s blockbuster Ben Hur, encountered Redgrave at the Leicester Square venue while he was working there as a doorman."

Continued...

Clip of a very early, uncredited role where Boyd plays "Beaumont's Poolside Companion" -- Beaumont being Errol Flynn -- in "Let's Make Up" from 1954.

Back in the 1960s he was one of the first celebrity Scientologists, and he would mention it in interviews on occasion.

R20 Great story about how Boyd got into the industry. Sir Michael Redgrave knew a hot package when he saw one.

The slightly different version of the Ben Hur story I heard was that Vidal felt he could only make dramatic sense of the story if Messala were in love with Hur and he told director William Wyler he intended to write that way. Wyler told him to go ahead but not mention it to Heston. Boyd was good enough of an actor to realize the subtext in the script on his own and had no problems playing it that way. Heston was clueless and none of the three told him. When the film came out other people had to explain to Heston what was obvious onscreen.

Here's Raquel Welch's account of how Stephen spurned her advances and why she thought he was gay. He definitely could've been gay, especially since he was...ahem..."discovered" at a cinema by Michael Redgrave, but Raquel's story sounds less like definitive proof that Boyd was gay and more like Boyd wanting to avoid a skanky Hollywood ho:

R21 This is a great clip. I love the way Boyd stretches his sexy leg out at the :50 mark. And what kind of pool party is this, anyway? I see seven men and three women, so I'm guessing it's a gay pool party and a few guys brought their hags with 'em.

Should have won the Oscar for being about the only interesting thing in Ben-Hur. What a slog of a movie.

So interesting that he felt the need to change his name from Billy Millar to Stephen Boyd. William Millar would have been a perfectly acceptable name for a movie star in the late 1950s and certainly no less memorable than Stephen Boyd. I wonder why he did it?

As incredibly handsome as he was, I can see (and remember) how that type of good looks fell out of favor against the Dustin Hoffmans, Al Pacinos and Elliott Goulds of the early 1970s. Even Robert Redford had a "quirkier" look than Boyd with his classic wavy glossy hair and cleft chin.

R29 "Stephen Boyd" probably had more of an "American" sound to it, and he wanted to get to Hollywood, so that name probably opened a few doors for him.

I loved him with Doris Day in "Jumbo."

He played the title character.

R31 "Jumbo" was just on TCM last Sunday. He was about the only thing worth watching in it.

Can someone please find and post that clip of Mr. Boyd on What's My Line?

It may be very enlightening vis a vis this thread, as to how he relates to Dorothy Kilgallen and Arlene Francis.

[quote] I love the way Boyd stretches his sexy leg out at the :50 mark.

R26 Lots of sexy leg stretching in "Island in the Sun" with Dame Joan. Has she ever weighed in?

In discussing the "Ben Hur" situation, someone once mentioned that there was gay subtext in "The Big Gamble" as well. True? I've never seen it.

R33 Is this what you're looking for?

The first wife seems like a studio hookup? Italian MCA executive Mariella di Sarzana. Lasted until the filming of Ben Hur was over.

He suppossedy had a long affair with euro-trash film goddess Marisa Mell in the early 70s. They did 2 movies together, one was called Marta (1971) and is a camp classic & sort of a Psycho rip off. I thought after the mid 60s he looked old and burnt out............

Found a lovely photo of him on Wikipedia, I don't know how you can put so many dimples in one face. He died of a heart attack while golfing.

So did he start the whole closeted scieno thing?

R14, I recall there was a push to get Milton Berle an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for "The Oscar", which went nowhere.

R38 But his affair with Mell still sounds kinda weird .. like a screenplay or something. They even did some kind of (non-legal) "Gypsy Wedding." This is from Mell's chapter on Boyd in her book "Coverlove" (translated from German) about her experience with Boyd during their first film:

[quote] He treated me like a piece of prop! I did everything, almost desperately, to get his attention. When we kissed in front of the camera, I put all the passion I had into that kiss. They were not cool, calculated film kisses on the upper lip, but hot and genuine. I believe that he had never been kissed on camera like that before! But Stephen Boyd remained cold. He seemed to feel nothing. I felt crazy and began to doubt myself. I had the most absurd thoughts about Stephen Boyd. Every day I spent 12 hours with this man. I had to hug him, look him in the eyes, touch his skin. It was almost unbearable. It was torture. I spent eight weeks showing him only my best side – sweet, cute, seductive, open, mysterious – everything! It was no use.

The entire chapter is at the link.

Damn, he was handsome. Appeared in 60 films. Born in Northern Ireland, UK.

He had a hot daddy speaking voice as well.

He's got a big head.

Love him, but my God, he had bad taste in choosing film projects!

In the end Ben-Hur is really his only respectable credit and I can only imagine he would have been offered some pretty incredible stuff after its success.

Reading the Wiki bio it seems so clear now that he must have been gay.

[quote] In the end Ben-Hur is really his only respectable credit

I think The Best of Everything is more respected than Ben-Hur around here.

R36 God, he was sexy in that clip! Woof!

R42 She does everything but say she was a beard for him!

Does nothing for me. A big boring head.

I hadda show him the ropes. Where to stand, what a key light was. He paid me back with something only a MAN can give a woman, not like those fags you hang out with.

Once you roll the skin back, r50, it is so much fun to play with.

Stevie during his Lord Kitchener phase.

"At one point in the 1960s, he had three homes there — one in Tarzana, one above the Sunset Strip, and another in Palm Springs."

GAY!

Boyd was cast as the original Marc Antony in "Cleopatra" with Liz Taylor. Both he and Peter Finch (as Julius Caesar) bowed out when production stalled.

He looks like he's wearing so much eye makeup in that clip at r55.

In his biography of Doris Day (Doris Day: A Reluctant Star), author David Bret is writing about her working with Boyd in "Billy Rose's Jumbo" and writes:

[quote] Doris and Boyd became great friends–like many of her gay friends in the know he borrowed from Rock Hudson and called her 'Eunice' after Eunice Blotter.

His brogue was so thick I could barely understand what he was saying.

R57 When you're in Doris Day's inner circle and are calling her "Eunice," that pretty much confirms you're gay.

R34, when this thread started I went looking for a mention of Joan Collins claiming to have had an affair with him, because I was positive I read that somewhere, but couldn't find it.

I did find this -- a whole blog about Stephen Boyd! The entry on Joan and Stephen says they were good friends but it wasn't romantic.

My uncle worked with Michael Redgrave - not as an actor, he was very much a behind-the-stage type.

He said that he was a stiff, rather tormented man. But usually a great professional, though he did seem to torture himself a bit to get into character...

R60 Great blog! Great stories! When Joan Collins can't get the dick, the guy's definitely gay.

[quote]Doris and Boyd became great friends–like many of her gay friends in the know he borrowed from Rock Hudson and called her 'Eunice' after Eunice Blotter.

I wonder why he and Doris never did a romcom together (like she did with Hudson, Garner, Taylor, Grant, et. al.) Maybe he wasn't that adept at comedy, but it would seem like it would've been a natural pairing.

R2 Besides the possibility of a genetic factor that R3 mentions, some of his bios state that when he was young, unemployed, and living on the streets, he came down with some illness. I've never read what illness, though. It might be possible that whatever he had did damage to his heart and left him predisposed toward that type of problem.

Always assumed he was gay, but what about the Marisa Mell relationship? Mell was a stunner!

R65 Did you read the link at R42 to the translated chapter about Boyd in Mell's book? .. The whole thing sounds rather bizarre: the gypsy "blood wedding," their going on some kind of "pilgrimage" complete with exorcism ritual, his developing what Mell refers to as a "psychosomatic disorder," with him eventually just up and leaving her.

He was a hot piece of ass, but he couldn't live forever!

Someone here knows something.

He was so handsome and sexy

Boyd on "What's My Line?"

Yass

Marisa Mell IS Mata Hari!

Men in ancient Egypt wore eye makeup, R56.

And he was interested in that clam thing for a few years till they took advantage of him and pissed him off.

R73 You mean the Scientology stuff? Yeah, he got mad when he learned they were using some video he'd taped for recruitment and told them to stop.

Except, r73, Stephen Boyd was playing a Roman named Marc Antony.

If anyone's interested that hirsute fellow in the photo with Marisa Mell at r72 is her Mata Hari co-star Pernell Roberts, late of Bonanza and Trapper John, MD. The musical was a huge disaster and was closed down in its pre-Broadway tryout in DC by producer David Merrick.

He's adorable and charming in that clip at r70! And seems very gay in retrospect, even his flamboyant signature, but maybe that's just an Irish affectation.

Arlene: Is your current picture a spectacle? And I mean that in the nicest way!

WOW! I watched R70 clip. He was stunning! A LOT of black Irish men are gorgeous!! Tyrone Power was definitely one of many. I think Ben Hur was a fantastic film. Their were showing old movies at a local movie theater when I was a kid, and my dad and his wife took me to see the film. It was terrific on a huge screen. The filming of the chariot race was amazing and the story of Ben Hur's family is extremely moving.

BTW, was Pernell Roberts bisexual or straight?

Never heard any rumors about Pernell Roberts. But imagining him in his Bonanza days having a tryst with Stephen Boyd is a great fantasy.

R77 Tyrone Power was also part Italian. Another one of those great Italian/Irish mixes.

Gorgeous Hollywood leading man, died at age 45 of a massive h̶e̶a̶r̶t̶ fart attack

r77 probably gay.

I always thought he looked amazing in the 1966 film "Caper of the Golden Bulls," especially in the extended shirtless scene.

I just spent five minutes of my life, reading 82 replies and I still don't know who he is or why I would care.

R5 r15 Boyd was directed to look and act longingly towards Heston. What made it work was that Heston was deliberately kept in the dark by the writer and director.

R5 r15 Boyd was directed to look and act longingly towards Heston. What made it work was that Heston was deliberately kept in the dark by the writer and director.

He was great in the movie the oscar, that and the best of everything were the only things I ever saw him in. As to the heart attacks..........heart attacks are generally caused by plaque build up from your diet. Eating a normal american diet will build up the placque and almost guarantees a heart attack at some point. You dont have to be overweight or obese to have placque that causes a heart attack.

He married his long time secretary after knowing her for 20 years, there are a number of clues that suggest a stron possibility of being gay. Extremely handsome but what sets him apart even more is hewas reputedly loved by everyone that ever worked with him and a generally great all around guy.

Another good SB film is "Lisa" with DL favourite Delores Hart.

I just watched The Oscar. I wished he had a chance to show more skin in that. He's certainly handsome, but he lacks a certain something which spells the difference between a star and a competent lead, though the script and direction of the Oscar wouldn't bring out star quality in anyone cast in Boyd's part.

R88: Yeah--he was never a leading man, but always fine in an ensemble,

Funny that his bios never say whether he was Protestant or Catholic--County Antrim is mostly Protestant, but he identified as Irish and usually the only Protestants who did that were from Anglo-Irish backgrounds in the South. Scientology must have been proud of bagging him, before they went on to bigger names.